//------------------------------//
// Repairing the Disneystar 
// Story: The New Era for Equus 
// by Robert Emerald Fountain 
//------------------------------//

The following morning, Neighsay came down on a shuttle to Twilight’s castle so he could be with everyone during the explanation of where Mickey and his friends came from and how they ended up at Equus.

“We did not know we would end up here. We were simply doing a simple test flight of our new starship, the Disneystar.”, Mickey explained.

“Then what was it that happened to your ship that resulted in you getting here?”, Neighsay and Twilight asked in unison.

Donald spoke up.

“All we know is we were testing our warp engines when our scanner picked up an exploding star. We could not avoid the shockwave, so Mickey had me put the shields up. Unfortunately, we were too late. The star exploded and the first energy wave hit the Disneystar before the shields had even reached 50%. Everything went ballistic after that. The warp engines got overcharged and we passed out from g-force. When we woke up, all of our controls were on fire and we were in a decaying orbit around the planet. After that, we evacuated and landed in the places where you found us.”, he said.

"Any idea why your hatches got fused shut?”, asked Neighsay out of confusion. “That’s not supposed to happen.”

Minnie thought for a second. She was the ship’s main engineer, and remembered when Von Drake warned them about the capsules’ hatches.

“Our ship’s designer told us that the hatches’ mechanisms were not yet shielded to take the heat from atmospheric reentry. So, when we ejected, we were at a point when the high temperature melted the mechanisms. That’s why the hatches got fused.”, she explained.

“We will help repair your ship so you can return home and tell your Professor about what happened.”, said Twilight.

Mickey accepted the offer and the Disneystar was taken to a hangar to be repaired. Once the controls had been fixed and rewired to proper working order, the escape pods were modified with heat-resistant hatch mechanisms that would not melt. The warp engines were rebuilt since they had been destroyed in the crash-landing. Ryder and the pups helped out with the repairs to make sure everything worked right and soon the ship was restored to its former glory. The power core was also modified to make sure it would not get overloaded by energy waves anymore. Once all of the repairs were finished, Mickey and his friends suited up for their return journey home. Twilight took time to record the star coordinates of where they came from in case they wanted to visit at any time. 

After Ryder and his crew accepted Mickey’s gratitude for saving them, the Space Patroller was launched and they returned to Adventure Bay. There were only two emergencies that came up while they were gone, but they were minimal. Mickey and his friends thanked Twilight and her friends and Flurry for saving them and then they boarded the Disneystar to go home. The ship lifted off and shot through space until they returned home. Professor Von Drake was shocked by their story, but he was also pleased that they returned home safely.